Advocating for Your Child

You are your child's best advocate!

Know your state's special education law and DO NOT assume your child's teachers (or principals or psychologists) know this law! Try not to burn your bridges as you are standing on them; however, sometimes you do have to be very firm in order to get what your child needs from the school. Use an outside source to help you advocate for your child, if necessary. Understand, to the best of your ability, your child's disability. Your child's teacher may see 100 or more students per day. There is no way they can possibly know more about your child than you do. Be confident when working with the school!

You must know what your child has difficulty with and how they learn. Do not be afraid to propose an alternative suggestion. The IEP meeting is supposed to be a gathering of minds, but the school already knows what they want to do with your child. Do not be afraid to speak up. Learn to understand test scores, standard deviations, and percentages so you know what they are talking about.

We highly suggest using a speech-language pathologist or other professional who understands dyslexia to advocate for your child when trying to determine what specific interventions, teaching methods, and strategies will be most useful. After all, this whole process isn’t about getting your child through school—it's about teaching them how to read! Success starts here!